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Whatever happened to ... Bill Klein's Oscars parties?

With Hollywood’s Big Night upon us, it’s a good time to look back at how lots of Rochester-area people used to celebrate the Academy Awards.

Bill Klein, a local radio personality, threw parties at his home that later graduated to movie theaters and other locales and attracted thousands over two-plus decades. The elaborate parties included catered food tied in with Oscar nominees, like shrimp for Forrest Gump one year (and even, ahem, rabbit stew for Fatal Attraction another year).

When the parties switched from invitation-only to open to the public, the event became a fundraiser for the Heart of Gold Charitable Foundation set up by WVOR-FM, one of the stations where Klein worked. Raffles were held, with the grand prize a trip for two to Hollywood.

The George Eastman House (now Museum) simultaneously held its own Academy Awards party during some of the years that Klein hosted his. That soiree was more upscale and suited for tuxes and gowns, while the Klein party was more casual, although some attendees duded up.

Guests mingle at one of the annual Oscars parties.(Photo: Bob Bauman)

Klein, who also worked for WHAM-AM, died suddenly in 2004 but the party he started went on for a few more years as a memorial to him. Klein started his parties in the early 1980s at his home in Hamlin for friends and professional contacts.

“At first, he had 20 to 30 people, then 50, then 100,” said Don Barone of Penfield, who ran local movie theaters at the time and helped Klein transition when the parties moved to theaters. Klein went all-out for the parties at his spectacularly decked-out home, as described in a 1988 Democrat and Chronicle story.

Andy Smith, the writer, called Klein “the Cecil B. DeMille of Oscar parties” and labeled the event as “the kind of party that would make Hollywood proud.” Outside, Klein had placed film posters, illuminated by torches, along the long and winding drive to his house. A 6-foot “Oscar” statue was in front of the garage, surrounded by lights; speakers were pouring out Oscar-winning songs from past years.

Inside, each room was “themed” to correspond with an Oscar-nominated movie, complete with a poster of the film and a coordinated menu. Italian sausage and pasta were in the Moonstruck room that year, for instance. TV sets tuned to the Academy Awards broadcast were in every room, including the bathroom, where Klein “recognized” the Oscar nominee he deemed least worthy.

“Short of Beverly Hills, this has got to be one of the great Oscar parties in the country,” one guest told Smith. Before long, it was so popular that Klein had to consider bigger venues.

He brought the party to places like Harro East and the Dome Arena in Henrietta. One year, with no immediate prospects, Klein turned to Barone, who suggested the big screen of a movie theater.

Bill Klein(Photo: Bob Bauman)

Barone was running the General Cinema Marketplace theater in Henrietta at the time. That’s where the Klein party moved in 1993. The themed rooms at his home became themed “stations” at the theater. That year’s party remained invitation-only, and the crowd was estimated at 1,000.

“No other Oscar party in the area can touch this,” Klein said in a Democrat and Chronicle story about the event. That was the first year that donations were accepted for WVOR’s Heart of Gold Charitable Foundation.

The party was opened to the public in 1994 as a fundraiser for the foundation and again held at Marketplace, as it would be for the next several years. Just as at Klein’s house, attendance increased every year. Barone had to allocate two screens one year and set up a tent outside to handle the crowd of 1,600.

It was a labor of love for Klein, whose film affinity was matched only by “his never-ending desire to help other people,” said Beth Adams Pitoniak, who worked with Klein for years at WVOR. Needless to say, a lot of prep work went into the Oscar bashes.

“Bill’s life was consumed by the planning and organizing of the event each year when we would return from our Christmas and New Year’s vacations,” Adams Pitoniak wrote in an email. “He was always on the phone, asking local restaurants and bakeries to donate food for the lavish tables, and other individuals, organizations and businesses to donate raffle items.”

Full disclosure: I won a cool pair of sunglasses at one of those parties.

A sign shows Bill Klein's Annual Oscar Party.(Photo: Bob Bauman)

After the General Cinema Marketplace theater closed, the party was held at the then-new Regal Henrietta for a few years. And then, in February, 2004, Klein died of a heart attack at age 60.

Barone became the go-to guy, and the Academy Awards party was held a month later. “I know Bill would’ve wanted this party to go on this year,” Barone said in a Democrat and Chronicle story about the event. “It’s all about Bill, and I’m glad.”

The party was held in ensuing years at the Riverside Convention Center as the “WHAM Bill Klein Memorial Academy Awards Party." When some longtime participants dropped out, Barone said it got to be too much, and the last party was in 2009.

Incidentally, the Academy Awards party that was held annually at the Eastman House (now Museum) from 1997 to 2013 also is no longer.

Alan Morrell is a Rochester-based freelance writer.

About this feature

“Whatever Happened To? ...” is a feature that explores favorite haunts of the past and revisits the headlines of yesteryear.